Even Stars can Explode
by Kohako Shadow
Summary: The Past and Present collide.
1. Muted

**Title: **Even Stars can explode  
**Author: **Kohako_Shadow  
**Rating: **PG-13  
**Pairing(s)/characters: **pre-slash Seto/Joey  
**Warnings: **this hasn't been spell-checked.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or make any profit of it.  
**Summary: **The Past and Present collide

* * *

"I will find you, no matter what. I promise you, my love!"

He watched tear-filled behind the barrier as his lover faded away from him; leaving him behind in darkness. The place around him was dark and he gasped at the cold feeling traveling over his body. He shivered and wrapped his hands around himself. His body jerked; startled suddenly as a body appeared in front of him. He gasped. It was the Golden Ankh bearer.

The beautiful dark face smiled sadly at him.

"The time has not come for you to leave the mortal shackles of the Earth. Do not fear for what will come to pass, let it flow around you and cradle you warmly and remember that all things have a purpose. You're destiny still must be revealed. I wish you a safe journey Katsuya Jou." And suddenly the world around him faded from his sight. He didn't feel anything as the ground reached out to meet him.

Jou gasped wildly awake. 'What a freaky dream! Man I knew eating that two weeks old pizza was gonna be mine downfall.' He laughed bitterly to himself at his thoughts. 'As if Seto could love me back.'

"It was just a stupid dream!" Yet his heart ached at the desolation in Seto Kaiba's face after he disappeared from his sight.

He stared unseeingly ahead of him, shivering slightly in remembrance. His mind was jumbled together and thoughts flitted from one form into another. His eyes ached and his temples throbbed. A headache was already coming up. He pounded his pillow and glance at his bedside clock. It was two hours before the beginning of school. "Just great!" he grumbled and burrowed back inside his covers, desperately trying to get back to sleep.

The day did not begin kindly for Jou. Not only was he being bombarded with highly impossible dreams of Seto and him. It hurt him deeply to find out that the love he experienced was nothing more than a figment of his own imagination. Seto Kaiba hated his guts as much as he thought Jou hated him.

'If only I could make him realize it is just a front.'

He sighed and trudged on to his next class. A hard push at his back brought him back to the present and made him crash into the lockers. "What the Hell! Can't you look where you're going! You fucking asshole!" He angrily shouted at his attacker. His face drained of color, leaving behind a sickly color. 'Oh, God!' Please, why did it have to be him?'

A sneer met his eyes and he swiftly transferred them to the floor. A warm feeling spread over his cheeks. Of all the days to bump into someone, it had to be Kin Makoto. The guy was a transfer student from Kyoto and from the moment that he laid eyes on Jou, made it his personal goal of making Jou's life a living hell. Then he was manhandling him and the next second he would start pawing at Jou and making his heartfelt love notions.

The blonde's eyes filled with pain as a vice-like grip grabbed his wrist tightly. "I don't like the tone you're using around me, Pup! You should try to learn to be more obedient." An angry flush rose to his cheeks and he opened his mouth to vehemently disagree with Makoto when a sharp voice made him speechless.

"I don't think I gave you any permission to call him Pup! Nor to touch him in any way!" Arctic cold eyes fixed upon both Jou and Makoto and both men shivered at the coldness in the young CEO's eyes. Although it was both for different reasons. Makoto could not believe his damn luck. Everyone knew about the volatile chemistry between the blond and the rich young man. 'Aw shit!' rang through his head.

Meanwhile Jou shivered at the look in Kaiba's eyes. His breath grew labored and his body was tense. He wanted nothing more than to be away from the big goon holding him against him. His heart soared at seeing his love return from America. He was saddened at the beginning of the year when reporters all around Japan notified the rest of the population that the young business man would be conducting business abroad. All the way to America. He was gone for more than six months and Jou was upset that he never had the chance to tell Kaiba how he felt about him. It was unfair to him and for days his nights were filled with nightmares of seeing Seto in the arms of some bimbo or another. Or worse being kidnapped or threathened in any way. He grew up in America, knew the dangers despite knowing that Kaiba could handle himself.

The hallway grew quiet at Kaiba's demand and everyone was holding their breath at what the brown-haired man would do. Everyone knew that Katsuya was off limits for anyone but Seto Kaiba. The student body thought their fights amusing and stress relieving, but at the same time dangerous. Only a fool would tally with Seto Kaiba and his obsessive fixiation with the blonde. Secretly they were glad that he was back. It was high time that this jerk learned some respect around here. Jou was not the only one being 'propositioned', but he was the most harassed one out of due to his friends. Some speculated that this had to do with his relationship to Mouto Yughi and Seto Kaiba, not to mention Marik Ishtar and Duke Devlin.

They waited with bated breath as the clock ticked on. A blood vessel was starting to show on Kaiba's forehead and before anyone could react, he had the dark-haired man arm ripped away from Jou. "I see that you are not only dumb, but also hard of hearing." A twist and Makoto's arm was trapped painfully behind his back. An insult fell from his lips and Kaiba took exception to that. Whirling him back to face him the brown-haired man punched the obnoxious guy in the face before bringing his knee up to the already bruised face. The sound of cartilage being broken made everyone present wince. They watched gleefully as the guy dropped none to gentle to the ground; he remained there with no one further noticing him. Why continue watching him, while the drama show was still unfolding.

Seto watched the confusion swirling in his love's expressive eyes. He shrugged while watching the blonds face heating up, "Guess he reacts badly to stars." A smirk greeted Jou's befuddled face. "But why?" he whispered softly, his voice eerily echoing in the deafening silence of the hallway. "I couldn't just let my Puppy get beaten up by some lowlife, could I?" A hand reached out to softly stroke Jou's cheek.

Jou's breath caught at the emotion in those cold calculated eyes. A shy feeling rose inside of him and he looked away. A deep chuckle greeted his ears before he felt a warm face nuzzle the side of his face. He shook himself out of his stupor and watched as the auburn-haired male walk away toward the next class. "What just happened?" No one answered him, too confused with the cold man's action.

This wasn't what anyone had expected to happen.

* * *

**To be continued**


	2. Repressed

**Title: **Even Stars can explode  
**Author: **Kohako_Shadow  
**Rating: **PG-13  
**Pairing: **pre-slash Seto/Joey  
**Beta: **this hasn't been spell-checked.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or make any profit of it.  
**Summary: **The Past and Present collide

~ dream/vision ~

**Recap:  
**_"But why?" He whispered softly, his voice eerily echoing in the deafening silence of the hallway. "I couldn't just let my Puppy get beaten up by some lowlife, could I?" A hand reached out to softly stroke Jou's cheek. His breath caught at the emotion in those cold calculated eyes. A shy feeling rose inside of him and he looked away._

_A deep chuckle greeted his ears before he felt a warm face nuzzle the side of his face. He shook himself out of his stupor and watched as the auburn-haired male walk away toward the next class. "What just happened?" No one answered him, too confused with the cold man's action. This wasn't what anyone had expected to happen._

* * *

Kaiba stonily looked forward. He dismissed the inane prattle of his secretary reminding him again of his important 3 o'clock business meeting. His failed attempt to drown out the grating voice left him irritated, since it still entered his psyche. Already he could feel a tremendous headache building up.

He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath to control himself. "You're dismissed!" The cold voice slashed the secretary's monologue; leaving an uncomfortable silence in its wake. A squeaky voice tried to protest before deadly rays fixed it on the owner.

The warning was clear in the eyes. Complying with the order, the secretary left his troubled employer. Kaiba watched the slow proceeding with tired eyes. Before the door had fully closed he had already slouched in his chair and swiveled it to face the city lights of Domino City.

He closed his eyes and breathed in the pungent smell of leather. He wondered peculiarly why the sharp smell always managed to sooth away his troubles. The vision suddenly hit him, freezing him in his tracks.

_~ A pale hand caressed a heavy leather band nestled above a bare collarbone. "Nfr__." A blond head ducked in embarrassment at the compliment. ~_

And just as sudden as it had appeared the vision quickly vanished into thin air, leaving a gasping young man behind; trying to compose himself.

'What was that?' Blue eyes clouded with confusion before settling in the familiar blank look many had come to see in the young CEO. A sigh of disgust filtered out of the thin lips before the dark and gloomy place retained its quietness.

After a few hours the CEO concluded he wasn't getting anything done and called for his driver to bring the limo up from. It was time to go home. Clearly the change of setting would be a balm to his soul. Arranging his papers on the desk he grabbed his briefcase and settled it on the mahogany desk. Snapping the briefcase opened he picked up his things. The glinting of something inside the dark interior seized his attention. It was the piece of jewelry he found laying on his bedroom floor.

He picked it up and the stone came alive at coming in contact with the lamp on Kaiba's desk. The dark reddish orange glow that bathed his office walls reminded Kaiba of rays of sunset. 'It was beautiful.' He had to concede. And then his eyes hardened at what he just thought. Kaiba Seto did not find insignificant stones to be beautiful. Not even when they reminded them of a certain young blonde with a sunny smile that could light up even the most blackest of hearts.

He growled to himself and turned the lamp off. Striding brusquely out of his office he promised himself to not think of anything but his work.

* * *

Across the town another young man was experiencing the same thing. Standing in front of his bedroom window, young Katsuya Jonouchi brooded. He didn't allow himself to think of the weird beheviour of the young CEO that helped him today.

The guy was hard to understand and Jou didn't have the energy to solve the puzzle that was Seto Kaiba. He had more pressing matters to attend to. For the past days now, he was troubled with almost dreams They seem so realistic, that he'd believed them to be memories of a past long forgotten.

He told himself that it was possible, that it could happen. Did Anzu not confide in him that Atemu saw her in Egypt when they were trying to search more about his past. It's clear that all Millinieum Spirits were present and it was known in the group that Kaiba used to be High Priest of the Pharaoh even if the guy was denying everything.

The lanky youth shook himself out of his musings and tried to talk himself out of this funk that he seemed to be in. His friends were already starting to get worried and that was the last thing that he wanted. Watching the stars above, he couldn´t help but think back to his dream from last night.

_~ Two dark figures were illuminated by the soft glow of the full moon that casts it´s lovely glow around them. They marveled at the sight that greeted them from above. The dark veil of midnight alighted with twinkling stars of gold._

_Whispers, too low, to be heard, drifted on butterfly wings before dwindling down. It was obvious, even to the untrained eye, that the two men lying in each other´s embrace were not merely friends. You could see it in the gentle touches and heated glances. _

_Both were as different as the night and day. The younger one was tanned and vibrant as the shining sun, whereas the older of the two had an air of coldness to him like the unreachable moon. Aside from the veils that they both wore around there faces, both were dressed different from each other. _

_Whereas the cold one was wrapped in the most expensive materials known to man, with jewelry adorning his arms, hand and feet; the sunny one was garbed only in a white skirt. A High Priest and a Slave._

_They were the last persons on earth you would imagine being as close to each other as those two. Yet there was no denying the love that connected them, despite their difference. ~_

* * *

Jou sighed and not for the first time that night wondered how he knew that the men in his dreams were a High Priest and Slave. Their features were indistinguishable, due to the darkness and veils. Yet for some kind of reason the blonde knew those two. He had seen them before. It didn't make any sense to him. But he knew in his heart that he longed to know the truth about those two. 'Who were they? And why am I having those dreams about them? And why do I always picture Seto and I in my mind when I think of them.'

He closed his eyes, the questions that arose due to the dreams only served to make his head ache. The night was growing late and school was only a few hours away. It was time for the young man to sleep. He tried everything that he could think of to fall asleep, but it was as if his active mind was hell bent on keeping awake.

He clasped his hand and settled them on his bare stomach. 'Maybe meditating would help.' And thus Jou cleansed his mind of any lingering thoughts and resolutely tried to drift off. The feelings that lingered after that dream rose within him before he could stop it. Smiling to himself Jou slowly drifted to sleep, embraced with a love that rivaled his own feelings for Kaiba Seto. 'I wonder what happened to those two.'

Outside the moon kept vigil on the sleeping inhabitants of Domino City.

* * *

**To be continued**

**PS: **_Nfr means beautiful in Ancient Egyptian, at least I think it is. Please correct me if I'm wrong, because it could be Kishwahili -Bantu. I'm not really so sure._

_**ETA 19/6 Will be trying to update this as soon as possible. I finally have the time to edit my ongoing stories.**_


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